


much like aunt Josephine

by Thesundayman



Category: Anne of Green Gables, Anne with an E, anne of avonlea
Genre: 1890s, Anne of Green Gables - Freeform, Anne with an E - Freeform, Avonlea (Anne of Green Gables), F/F, Gay, I write a lot about the clothes, Its kinda boring but most fanfictions without smut are, Victorian, anne with an e but gay, house mates, period, they are fourteen and sadly too young for sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:35:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26713822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thesundayman/pseuds/Thesundayman
Summary: little while after her wifes death Josephine Barry finds a long lost relative of her kindered spirit ,a 14 year old orphan named anne , and decides to adopt her and move to her necies williams estate in the small village of avonlea. There Anne meets Diana barry a charming young woman much like her aunt ,and a young man named gilbert oh and also read the tags
Relationships: Diana Barry & Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley, josephine barry/marila cuthbert
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	1. I am not an angel and I wont be one till I die , I will be myself

News travel fast in small villages and Avonlea is no exeption . The gossip moved as fast as a haunted duck with miss Lynd going door to door to exhail the new mistery that was awaiting .You see an elderly woman of rich appearance was seen visiting the estate of william Barry .She dressed like a widow closing her first year but the little that knew of her said she was surely an old maid. Some also mentioned that she was of blood relations with the Barrys but ,when one was to question them about it ,they would quikly change the subject .She stayed there for the last week of spring,supposedly doing some errands, and then took the train to Charlottown .

Maby 8 days passed where a modiste from Carmody called Jeannie pippet spoke to an old schoolfriend of hers mentioning the old woman coming to her shop and ordering 3 dresses of simple and light structure,perfect for long traveling, and 4 every day more elaborate dresses of vicius colors ,non of wich being pink or orange, 2 hats one white modest with a big silk rubin falling to the sides(giving it a shape more similar to a bonet than a sailors hat) and one persian blue of a more traditional design and a white bow of medium size on top , an also persian blue coat with flower embroidery on the cuffs and collar , a few pinafores and a dazzling cream silk dress . The thing that struck misses pippet eye though was that all this clothing were ment for a child as when the question of measurements came she handed an old small worn out dress of a lemon chiffon color and ordered for them to be "a litte bigger than this" .She then well paid the woman requested for the dresses to be done first and at least one of them to be ready till tomorrow. The woman then went to work immediately and as surprising as it sounds all were done withinin two weeks .2 days after that she was seen by a ticket inspector who told the minister that she was aboarding a ship ,while next to her a young lass in blue coat ,her face and hair not visible because of the size of her hat. No news were to be given to the people of avonlea and quickly the topic was left aside .

It wasnt till the end of summer when she was spoken of again by the same ticket inspectore who didnt forget to inform his friend that her tranks had more than doubled. She was comming off the train to avonlea with the girl on her side . There a black close carriage with carved wood took them to the brick house belonging to her neice .As soon as this hited Rachels ears she ecstaticly took the pie she had been making and a few minutes later knocked the door of the inormus building. There miss Josephine happily informed her during tea that she indeed is an aunt to George Barry, that she dressed like a widow because of her dearest friends death ,and more excitingly that she found a long lost relative of her kindered spirit a young girl called Anne ,who surprisingly has so much in common with the passed woman .She also said that to get closer to the girl and forget about the tragedy of Gertrude she took her for a long trip to Europe and that she intends to live with the Barrys so the girl could grow with a 'real family'. Miss lynd spread the news and as soon as the mistery was over every one once again forgot about it.

It wasnt until the third day before school when Josephine decided to host a small picnic near the riverv,similar to the one her relatives host every year ,with flavorful tarts and scrumptius tea and chairs and pillows everywhere so every one will be welcomed . Most of the villagers came and a band was playing the classics , there some boys of adolescent age appeared without their families . They all laughed and joked .Gilbert billie moddy and charlie ,all dressed in casual, came without their parents .They did that to help Blythe who felt weird going to a family event without his father ,as he was to sick to come .

Billie made a joke and every one laughed ,except Gilbert who was drawn to a girl not familiar to him talking with Diana •she was skinny with freckles and fiery red hair braided in 2 pulled up to the parietal with a silk cream bow , she was wearing a pleated silk cream dress with an oval neckline and a long embroidered tule bertha collar and short puff sleeves with lace on the end along with a belt with a silk bow on the front left side. The pale boy unconsciously aproached her standing infront of the two girls frozen "hello gilbert" said the brunet "Anne this is gilbert he's in our class" "oh emm hi" said the boy quickly realizing his movments. "it is a luscious pleasure to meet you""Hey Blythe ! "howled the blond boy behinde him "It was nice to see you Anne"said the child before runing to his friend and leaving the two girls to giglle by his akward introdaction. There Anne made plenty best of wich being Diana Barry ,Ruby Gillis ,Tillie Boulterand , Jane Andrews and Jossie Pye .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a really boring chapter  
> nothing fun or gay about it


	2. To live is the rearest thing in the world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a little gayer but just wait till chapter 3

Avonlea ,although small , was field with generally wealthy people .None of them thought reached Josephines Barry account wich was 200.000 pounds(worth almost 40 million pounds in present times),dispite her wealth she was an extremely kind and giving woman carring most for her family and friends than her income .After her dearest partner passed mister William barry and his household ,although not happy ,were releaved to know that all her money would pass on to them , it wasnt until a year later where that changed ,for the eldery woman was planing to adopt and raise in Avonlea a girl named Anne and therefore pass her heritage on to the young girl. She had sended them a letter informing them of that plan and asking very proudly if they could stay in their estate. Socked as they were for the loss of their future fortune and that obnoxious request they thought it best that she would not receive a response, thinkin ofcorse that that clearly showed their rejection .They were wrong for a while later miss Josefine had knocked on the door with no invitation, ordered the maid to prepare some tea ,sat on the drawing room and simply looked at william with discuss "did your letter got lost in the mail?", her accent was strong, the socked man didn't have to verbally refuse as his face clearly stated otherwise. She then went on and on about everything she had given to his family and how their hole lifestyles were so thanks to her ,what a disrespect it was that they had the odacity to not even defend themselves in a refuse and rather thought it smarter to make her wait for the mail as if she was a schoolgirl waiting for a gentleman caller. By five both Bary and his wife had welcomed her and the girl with hospitality and regret ."well it is too late for me to live now" she said cheking her pocket watch ,she stayed for another week arranging the rooms she and the girl will be staying in ,the help and plenty others. When she took the train to Charrlotown they felt relivied and also terrified that this will now be their new lifes.

It was the first day of school and after a whole lot of studying on her trips Anne finally felt prepeared ,she wore her dark cyan turtle neck dress with puff sleeves and yellow stiching ,braided her hair in two tying them with some old lace bows ,she putted on her black boots and took her basket and books and then moved outside to walk for school with the two other girls .The house was a few minutes away from green gables farm ,owned by two unwed siblings Mathew and Marila Cuthbert and a bit further was the Lynds house , they passed the lonely building and headed between the trees.

Even if the sisters had their doubts about annes arrival at first ,they quicly came to an end ,or at least a pause, when they met her and her spirited character,she soon befriended the elder and became tolerable to the youngest.Diana wasn't much of a jealous or material person, she did infact have much in common with her aunt and so anne seemed like the perfect match for her ,kindered spirits one would say. She remembered when she fiirst met the girl ,Her entire family and stuff standing on the parlor awaiting for their arival, having little to no knoeldge of what she is ought to bring ,little minnie may bored out of her mind ,her anxius mother being sure that whoever they are going to welcome will have to be properly raised by her .Why, what was it going to be , a spoiled child with no manners whatsoever ,a trouble maker that has never faced discipline in her life ,from all the scenarios in her head non would be even close to what anne trully was ,an orphan from hopetown asylum ,with litlle to no education and a life tha was tragically comon for kids in her sercumstanses. She stepped out of the caragie ,that had few seconds earlyer stoped in front of the building, holding the drivers hand for balance, followed by josephines similar steps, she was wearing a white sailors hat with a gigantic bow and a matching coat and having in her other hand some flowers that they later on found she had picked on the way to welcome them.She offered gifts they bought for the girls and their parents on her trips ,a german porceline doll for minnie may ,a charm from marseil for diana, two perfume boxes from paris for miss eliza and a wooden carved pipe from prauge for mister barry ,they reveived them in the drawing room while two maids and a boy transfered their laguage to their rooms, numerus trunks filed with clothes and jewllery and books and stationary and and a box camera and photographs and hat boxes next to them . When the prosses was done they introduced their personal chambers to them while vewing the rest of the house and then were serced supper at bed were they would retire early for the trip was tiring. 

And the two teens spent their days talking about their lifes and conecting , and Anne revealed her backround and they were ,as it was ment, kindered spirits.

So there they were ,steps from the schoolhouse ,the two eleder girls alone for her sister had run of with some pupils of her age, "Anne!" Ruby run twoasrds them. The greeted each other andothers followed until a circle of young girls was formed and their laughs drowned the area until mister Philips stood on the doorway with a cow bell calling all the students inside. And while anne where to walk inside the door a ruller apeared in front of her chest stoping her from moving foward "And you are?" the haughty voice of her teacher made heads turn "Anne Shirley sir" the scared voice awnsered "Shirley?" he awated for more information "I'm a relative of miss Josephine Barry ,Sir Williams Barrys aunt? well not a relative of her per say but of her kindered spirit who recent-" "I asked for a name not life story" he moved the ruler from her adolesent boosom and directed to her back where with a small pat urged her to continiue walking .

The lesson went as well as one would hope .During her trips Anne had managed to not only catch up to her classmates but also read ahead ,something that instead of impressing mr Philiops seemed to rather iritate him, she was too spirited when reading and too arogant when awnsering, behaviurs that sparked small gigles in other desks making both her and the brunette next to her embarassed . And then lunch time came and all the girls were sharing their food in the corner of the classroom "so anne -" said ruby while chewing "where you from?" a small silence followed "ermm" she swalloed her food and felt like choking ,what should she awnser? that she was an orphan ? they would never accept her as she were ,she looked at diana her face confirmed that thought "erm.." she snaped back to reallity "I used to live with eh my father outside of nova scotia" she blurted "and your mom?" ruby asked again "She died when I was young of typhoed fever" that was true "so what your father just sent you away?" Jossie said with judgment and anne was silent once again trying to figure out what to say "he was a school teacher!" Diana said excitingly , she knew that both her parents were teachers before they died "that must be why your so good at school" said tillie pointing her finger in understanding "yeah.." anne hesitated "they-erm- he was a teacher at my school and..." pause once again "and he got an offer at an boys boarding school" Diana blurted again "Yeah! And he really wanted to take it" anne seemed excited by the myth making procces now "So he thought that he should send her on a boarding school too" her friend continiued "but I had heard how horible even the expensive ones are and didnt want to go" it was now coming naturally to both of them "but luckily aunt josephine found out that her mom was related with her best friend who recently died and she wanted to take her in" " so my dad took the chance" they looked at eachother "and sended me-her to avonlea instead" they exhailed together and laughed after the final words leaving most of the girls in confusion.

And before she knew it it was night and both were ready for bed and in the dark hallway annes naked feet tip toed across the almost black hallway .Dianas door creeked when opening and in stumbled anne "hei" she jumped to the bed "hi" the other sat up and removed the blankets of her .Like numerus other nights the girls sat together in their nightgowns descussing and joking and sharing each and every one of their feelings and thoughts "Gilbert sure seems to be charmed by you" the redhaid lauhed "dont be ridiculus" she replied "why not? We are sertainly old enough" Anne knew what was coming "fourteen is not old enough and really? Gilbert Blythe?" she seemed jugdemental "I mean he is the smartest of the boys, and mature too, and you would lie if you said he wasnt charming ." she raised her eyebrows "I talked to him once and he could bearly pronounce his own name" she tried to just convince her friend that she wasnt interested but somehow seemed to fail "you caught him off guard that day ,he is usually way braver, oh and today he could not take his eyes off y-" "Diana just forget it! talk like that is not apropriate" Ane cut her off ,she didnt want to talk about it, never had she felt something for boys that she had not felt for girls ,romance she knew for her was nothing but platonic ,and as much of a deer that Gilbert boy was her feelings for her friend seemed to overpower him. And what sort of romance would fall second to a friendship.What sort of romance would make your heart hurt less than when you see your friends eyes in the canddle light ,than when you hug her before sleep and the only thing between you are two of the lightest layers of cloth ,than when you hold her hand and close your eye s having the only emotion be her touch. "what sort of romance indeed" she whispered next to her unconsius kindered spirit.


	3. Our years in Paris

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Like a daily lesbian day dream of mine

The city of lights was breathtaking ,even the tiles on the roads glittered with the souls of the romantic, and a young lady in a green modest dress and and a full of flowers bonnet was running towards the street "miss Barry you better wait the streets are dangerous here!" yelled a tall older woman from a few steps back ,she raised the skirt of her black silk dress and fastened her pace to approach her "miss Barry " she sighed in weariness and let go of the fabric "I have told you multiple times" her heavy accent got heavier "every man in France is either ivre or thinking of his maitresse"her hands moved with her expressions "LA RUE IS NOT SAFE IN PARI" the girl giggled at her fear "Calm your nerves miss Dupont" her eyes met the view "I just dont think we'll have enough time before dawn" she looked on both sides of the road and crossed carefully grabbing the woman's forearm and holding it close like all the proper ladies do ,and at the other side she directed them both towards the windows of the shops to admire the new fashions that where born in the core of the city.

"Miss Barry ,we have barely eaten breakfast .You do not intend to spend the hole day at the bookshop?" she stared at her with confusion causing a smile to form "you should attend other businesses ,I do not have much unattending time before school starts and I better stock up so I will not have to come again" she stopped in front of a sculptured wooden building and looked through the glass at their collection of lace ,the older woman took some hideous spectacles of her pouch and placed them on her nose "how detailed" Jo pointed out "Your mother gave me specific instructions" she changed the subject "you are not to leave my sight while we are outdoors".

She felt that it was humiliating that she had a nanny at sixteen ,a strict one at that. But no, her mother insisted that she did not speak the language(which Josephine firmly believed otherwise) and that an unescorted girl alone in France was not only dangerous but also scandalous ,that Paris was not Charlottetown and that she did not know how things worked .And so miss Dupont was hired ,an unmarried unattractive annoying blonde woman whos family was from Quebec but was born and raised in Paris ,a woman whos apparent highlight of the middle age years was gaining a better salary by taking care of a full grown full working woman as if she was a toddler. Her days before going to collage where numbered and she came to France at the end of her school year for one reason only to get to know the country and get accustomed to the language and then with miss Dupont being afraid of pigeons the ability to do any of it vanished so she just pleaded for some time alone at a bookstore ,so she could study and be ahead of her class at college and read more French and relax away from her.

And she pleaded and she offered to buy her off with money and then a gas lamp lit above her head "Its a shame you know" her head turned to the floor "what is?" the elder woman questioned knowing it would be another attempt to make her leave "Well its just miss Dupont ,"Jo could not hold the smile in her face "you had told me of one sir Laurent " Duponts eyes glimmered "yes...I recall" "Well I just think its a shame that you wont get the chance to see him now that you're in Europe after such a long time. I mean you still correspond in letter and he sounds as if he is mighty lonely in his dear papas old apartment" the governess now chuckled at that not so subtle try to rid of her "I am many things Josephine but ignorant is not one of them" the girl laughed in her thought of failure "But I must say it is tempting, to see him again , we were close for years till I left for a teaching position in nova scotia in the winter of '34" "you must miss him" the woman sighed in response " Alright, you have won me. You will spend the day at the bookstore but shall leave before five and carefully ,I emphasize the carefully, depart to the hotel" she paused to collect her thoughts "dear god how inappropriate would it be if I where to visit with no invitation or letter" her head turned to the teen for approval "I think it would be romantic" "you do?" "yes quite like in the books" said with a smile giving her what she pleased.

And so she passed a number of hours among the shelfs smelling the paper and creating a number of stacks of books in the cashiers desk to be shipped to her hotel(it would simply be impossible for one to carry them all) .And she took a moment to relax in a small uncomfortable chair, and saw a blue book lying near her and thought to skim it for a second. While finishing the first page a woman stood in front of her ,Josephine raised her head and saw her wearing an eccentric white cotton dress with her hair red and impossibly curled and her arms hugging a number of books whos dust had obviously leaved a stain on the light fabric and she said  
"Good evening I am called Gertrude and I just wish to inform you that you do not want to purchase the book you are pursuing as it is impossible bleak and, in the end, the protagonist is murdered!"  
"oh, em..." Jo closed the book and took a last look of the cover "...thanks?" "You're welcome" the girl stood there as if she was awaiting something "I'm Jo" her hand lifted "erm-Josephine Barry" she corrected her self and the other one shook the hand trying to balance her belongings in the other "how'd you know I speak English?" "oh, the book" the answer made her place it back on the desk and doing so she got up for she thought it rude to keep siting as if awaiting for her leave "ah, yes" the conversation felt awkward to her but Gertrude didn't seem to mind "You know if you are looking for something you should just...." the redhead looked down at her hands and with one of them took a big green book "you do speak French do you not?" "You find me in France where else?" "well la cousine Bette, its the story of this old spinster named Bette that lived in paris and planned the destruction of her extended family" Jo took the book in her hand and turned it to see the back cover "at the end both Bette and Adeline perish and the baron Huton marries a kitchen maid!" her eyes glimmered with an attractive exactment when talking about it "well actually I have enough of a book tower already so I do not believe it wise for me to purchase another tail of fiction" she handed the book back to her but the other did not receive it "what nonsense? No one person can ever have too large a number of books ,come along , take it I will buy it for you-" "oh no, you are too kind but now I really cant accept that" her reply was awkward "yes you can. come on" she took her empty hand and dragged her to the cashiers

"Good evening" an old man turned around and lightened up in the sight of Gertrude "ah, you again" he said jokingly, Gertrude ignored the man and turned to Jo "are those yours?" she said her eyes at the stacks of books "Yes" the answer given was confused and filled with terror "how are you to carry them all anywhere?" "I am not. Mister Tousaint informed me of a delivery service and I have given him my address to receive them in my apartment" "AH GREAT" her excitement grew with every response "So I will buy all of these. OH and these" she threw all the books she was holding in the desk "and the la cousine bette" her hand took the girls hand that was holding the book and lifted it so the man would be able see "and have all those" her arms once again pointed at Josephines books "shipped to her" "wait what?" "and a the rest to me ,I believe you have my address from previous purchases," he nodded "and I believe this" she took a small velvet pouch tied to her wrist and removed a number of paper bills which throbbed on the desk "should cover it. You can keep the change, have a good day" and she once again grabbed her hand and run outside. "I can not except the books, you understand that?" the girl was trying to keep up with her pace and was for once understanding miss Duponts pain "where are we going?" followed with the realization of its priority "don't worry about the books ,if it is about pride you can pay me back but you must accept the one I gave you" the book was still in her palm now close to her breasts "yeah that better be best" she answered distracted from the fact that she was running in the streets following an absolute stranger. They turned in an alley and passed a number of less extravagant apartment buildings that Jo had not seen before ,"where are we going?" it was barely heard over her heavy tired breathing "to find you some dissent books dear Josephine" the other stopped "what? where?" caution was now her tone "do you not trust me Miss Barry?" "no, not really" a long pause followed drowned with equal disappointment "could we just walk slower , I'm out of breath" Gertrude smiled wide to that "but of course, my pace must be torturing you!" and they calmly walked and talked about their lives.

Gertrudes father was an old old very wealthy cranky French man that still dressed in powdered wigs ,never married, her mother a beautiful poor young girl from Toronto ,she visited Marseille for her fathers funeral when she was sixteen and in the church saw the old man ,but they did not marry and she died giving birth in his bed and the child was raised by a different Canadian maid every month and was never allowed in her fathers quarters and when he died in his bed she finally saw him without his wig, and she was thirteen and considered mature enough to live on her own with no man in the world to know of her and an immense fortune that only seemed to grow. She then befriended the real paris and opened its hidden treasure .On the other hand Josephine came from an inherently rich family in prince Edward island ,her father died of tuberculosis when she was still a pupil in boarding school .Her mother was an over protective and very traditional woman with too much money in her hands ,she was about to have a son before her husband left but ,as it was very common for those times, he saw his fathers luck and Josephine stayed an only child. And that was about it for her ,she spent her whole life in boarding schools and even when they where closed she would be sent in some far off location for one reason or another. And now as she knew for a long time she would be sent in a young ladies college called "Maison royale de Saint-Louis"

"excuse me, what?" "what?" Jo turned her head from the floor and looked at her new friend "I will be attending Maison royale de Saint-Louis early this September" they both laughed "well what a luck !" "I do not think of it as luck" that made her believe that she should be offended "I believe it is fate".

She then took notice of the location "ah here we are" . The buildings where made by a variety of bricks and their architecture looked the same two floors, two windows each, a flat roof .The road was concrete but largely covered with mud and between all the bleak shades of brown was one whose windows bursted of flowers, where printed papers hanged elegantly from the outer walls and from the rusty nob of the short door hanged a sing of distorted wood with the word 'ouvrir' in cursive. And when the two girls walked inside a bell rang from above them. "The two Reno sisters live upstairs" Jo looked at the place, It was dark for a bookshop, bookcases of different old designs formed multiple isles covering most of the room and scattered chairs and secretary desks brought it to a place where it was impossible to move around in a crinoline, and in the right under one of the two windows of the shop was a dining table that was very obviously used for professional and recreational reasons with books diaries and all sorts of stationary covering the top of its fine wood "huh?" the brunet took some time to comprehend what the other had just said "The two misses Reno are the sisters that own this shop, they have hand picked every book in this room, number of them are original versions of heavily censored books never formally published or even illegal!" Gertrude squatted and removed one book to clean it from the dust with her sleeve "you just know that whatever you pick will be special and worth reading" she got up approached her friend and placed the book she was holding on her chest forcing jo to hold it before it fell. 

Two voices where heard arguing from the stairs ,it was French but not the kind Jo was used to ,this one was faster less eloquent and formal with plenty words not taught from private tutors and boarding school teachers ,she had difficulty understanding what they said "Gertrude mon enfant" a short beautiful woman wearing a faded blouse and an old fashioned unstructured blue skirt had just stepped of the stairs and with spreading arms was approaching the ginger ,she hugged her for a while only for all three girls to turn on the sight of an older woman , Gertrude left the hug and run towards the other for the same affection "Oh, Alice I have missed you so!" "why the English girl? Have your trips in Ireland changed your curse of mind?" "Why I have brought a friend, one that feels more understanding on her homelands tongue than of this one" Alice left the teen off her arms and turned sight to Josephine "and from where are thou?" "Prince Edward island miss" "Its in Canada near nova scotia" the ginger interrupted "like your mamas home" the sort woman responded "Well and what may your name be" Alice once again asked but this time Jo dint even have the time to answer before Gertrude "It is Josephine Barry, we will attend the shame school at fall"...

It was peculiar, Josephine thought looking at the women while eating dinner at the upper floor, 'they must be half sisters' was the mystery that circled her head with a main clue ,if I am to be blunt, being their ethnicities. The shorter woman ,who was called Leonie, had black hair similar to silk caught in a braided bun above her neck, her skin was olive, dark, with numerus quaint moles creating constellations all over her face, she was truly a piece of art ,her nose curvy and tall her eyes exotic and sensual "a portrait of Frederic Leighton" she mouthed to her self in admiration ,and with disappointment turned her face to her alleged relative , a regular shade of tortured light brown locks where modestly covered under her white cap ,she was sickly pale and with acne and other rashes that Jo had not seen since coming to the city and ,even if Jo hated thinking so for a woman that welcoming , she was homely ,asymmetry drew attention ,her slenderness caused pity for whatever has infected this poor girl .But if you saw her for more than a second you understood that she was healthy and young , just awfully ugly, it was suspicius that those two would come of the shame mother or father or both, unbelievable really "Gertrude has informed you are sisters


End file.
